The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1887-06-01


our attachment to the land Of our fathers
1t only demands that our patriotism be
pure Within this limit We can arlently at
tarls ourselves TO the welfare Of our country
In its perils we should fly 10 its resciie, with
zeal and affection, resolved TO partalse of its
suferings, and prepare il need be 10 die in its
defense. Such a moment my friends, de
fnaInls OF Us such a feFyent PATRIOTISM. On
this question our duty is clear the right of
defense can never be denied us aud never,
while God gives means Of resistance ought
we 10 resign our country TO a foe. Our duty
as patriotic citizens and Christians is plain !;
il is to defend our homes, our firesides, and
our country. And in such an hour. and in
spired by such motives our fallen comrades
went forth to dare and to die. Death awaits
us all, and happy he who falls in the path of
duty Most happy and most honored of
men is the martyr to religion, who seals with
his blood those truths on which human yir-
tue, consolation and hope depend and next
to him, happy is the martyr TO the cause of
his country, who, in obedience TO God, OPP
poses his breast to the sword of her destroyers
and repays with life the protection she has
afforded
Mans life is not like dew-drop falling on
the rock soon exhaled by the sun but it is
like river--its presen; state is the result of
its past its strength, and color, and charac-
ter are the results of the soil through which
il has come. of the contributory streams that
have flown into it, and of the winds that
have rippled its surface or stirred its depths.
What, then, can we say Of the lives of our
fallen comrades Did they pass away and
leave no trace of their work, like the dia-
mond dew, kissed by the morning sun? No,
MOI Theirs was the glory fpure souls, act
ua;ed by one motive Of good. stFaining every
purpose to accomplish it neither needing
the threats Of danger on the one hand or the
calls of love on the other but speeding ON
with sure steps 10 the goal Of their hopes
the defense of their country flag And, as
they pressed onward in the charge, died
shouting
Forever float that standard sheet.
Where breathes the foe but falls before us,
With Freedoms soil beneath onr feet,
And Freedoms banner streaming DER us?'
Behold the result of their sacrifice OF life
They have given us an undivided country, a
land of fertile prliries. of luxurious valleys,
of mighty rivers of towering mountains
land OF freemen, of millions of happy beings
whose homes echo with Hosannas to God,
whose praises repeat in loving remembrance
the names Of the fallen heroes of the battle
for Home, and God, and native Land. And
now, having scattered flowers to their mem
ory. we again bid them farewell The gol-
den beams of the sun-tint, the wreaths that
adorn their graves Today and will fling a
shower of light over their place OF rest till
they shall rise to be Forever with the
Lord"
In conclusion, let me say to you, members
Of the Grand Army of the Republic, that like
knights of the olden time, who, having travel
ed in many lands, gathering stronger aspira-
tions from every temple and fresher hopes
from every altar, ascend the summit ofthe last
hill, and beholds in the distance, cleaning
into light, the Jerusalem of their souls 50
after many dangers and battles-aiier tread
ing the battle-fields where every flower
blooms more beautiful to-day, from the OBJ
Iation Of heroic blood paured upon It's hal
lowed soil you stand in sight Of the temple
of your hopes, bui after all you stood only
upon the threshold of your holy work Your
heroism preserved unstainei the supremacy
Of our Union But it is still threatened by
the danger of the ambition of despotic for
eign powers, and the internal throcs of anar-
chy and communism
But to you and your sons, represented here
to-day by the order of Sons of Veterans. We
can safely commit the honor and safety of
our country. And by being true TO thetrust
we shall be a joy to the whole earth. Our
Freedom viii not abide in obscurity, but rl-
diate to every part of the globe. II will in
crease and perpetuate, till every nation shall
arise from the slumber of ages. Our freedom
will be real, safe and contagious. Oar iiber
~, centering in God, shall blossom into the
bright flower of millennial beauty. Then,
from the East, and from the isles OF the sea
that shine like stars in the blue wafer from
every cline, tongue and people, shah the
choral song OF Peace. Liberty and Love,
caught from the !" Land of the free and the
home Of the brave, float back with every
wind to its just home, our own loved
America